Homeland (Iraq Year Zero)

Synopsis

In February 2002—about a year before the U.S. invasion in 2003—Iraqi filmmaker Abbas Fahdel traveled home from France to capture everyday life as his country prepared for war. He zeroed in on family and friends as they went about their business, with much of the action seen through the eyes of the director’s 12-year-old nephew, Haider. When Fahdel returned in 2003, two weeks after the invasion, daily activities like going to school or shopping at the market had become nearly impossible. Fahdel’s epic yet intimate film paints a compelling portrait of people simply trying to exist in a war zone.

Director Biography

Abbas Fahdel was born in Babylon, Iraq, and at the age of 18 moved to France, where he studied film at the Sorbonne. He returned to his home country to shoot the documentaries Back to Babylon (2002) and We Iraqis (2004). He also directed the war drama Dawn of the World (2008).